Round and Round
by screamsevi
Summary: A war-scarred Parvati turns to Neville for help, hope, and happiness. So how does a merry-go-round come into play? Oneshot.


_Round and Round_

Parvati Patil had an obsession with merry-go-rounds.

She thought they were absolutely brilliant; they had painted horses with intricate designs and bright colors that glittered in the florescent light of the carousel's spotlight. They went around and around to a beautiful, happy tune that was joyous and lovely, and filled with hope and longing. Parvati could ride the merry-go-round for days and days on end; she never wanted them to stop.

It was actually Neville Longbottom, of all people, to introduce her to them. Harry had apparently taken little Teddy Lupin to a merry-go-round for his second birthday, and Neville had been among the guests invited. He'd taken one look at the mass of swirling sound and colors, and he'd decided that it was something Parvati would love.

He was right.

The two of them had kept in touch in the years after the war. He'd owled her occasionally, and she would pop by his flat every now and again to take him for tea. He would always blush and stammer, and Parvati figured that Neville had a crush on her or something, but he never said anything, so neither did she.

She'd never really hung out with him at Hogwarts. He was always too quiet and awkward for Lavender's taste, so Parvati had let the poor, silent boy be. The two girls instead spent all of their time with Dean or Seamus; they were much more in their league, Lavender had said.

And then the war hit and Lavender was killed. She was mauled to death by a werewolf, or a vampire. No one really knew for sure anymore. All that was certain was that her face was mangled beyond recognition; if it weren't for the lavender scarf she wore on her wrist, Parvati wouldn't have been able to tell it was her. No one would have.

Parvati constantly missed her friend; they had been like sisters back at Hogwarts. They'd studied and eaten and partied together for seven years. It seemed wrong to Parvati for her best friend to simply be dead. It wasn't right.

She strayed away from Dean, Seamus, and that sort of crowd after the war. She didn't feel right drinking and laughing when Lavender was dead, and she much preferred the silence and solitude of a good book and a warm bath.

Parvati found it rather ironic that now she would have gotten along smashingly with Hermione Granger after all.

Parvati had drifted away from Padma as well. The two girls had ceased to be close after they'd gone to Hogwarts and been sorted into separate houses. They no longer spent all of their waking hours together, and once puberty struck, they went their separate ways. Padma hadn't even fought in the war. True, she hadn't completely abandoned the cause; she'd helped the younger students escape and get out of the castle. But it still caused a slight divide between Padma and Parvati that the latter fought while the former did not. The sisters barely spoke beyond holidays or birthdays.

And that was where Neville came in. He visited her while she was in St Mungo's with trauma. He brought her butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks and chocolate frogs from Honeydukes. He read her Muggle stories and gave her photos of Muggle flowers or animals. He said he wanted her to see the beauty in the world. He said he wanted her to see the happiness and innocence of Muggle life.

Parvati left St Mungo's after a few weeks, but she still felt cold. She had trouble focusing on the world around her, and she only felt solace when she was relaxing in her giant bathtub, or with Neville.

Her bathtub was porcelain and and stood on four curved silver feet. She would set a bottle of Muggle wine down on the floor beside her, and she'd read Muggle fairytales as the warm water soothed over her scarred flesh.

Neville was the only person who understood her growing obsession with Muggle life, but then again, he was the one who had introduced her to it all. She wanted to escape from her past as a witch fighting a war. She wanted to just be a carefree person once more.

She drunkenly told Neville this once, after the two of them had watched what Neville said Harry called a romantic comedy movie. She didn't understand what was so interesting about the moving pictures, but Neville loved them, so she brought the wine and he brought the films. She had confessed - while slightly plastered - that she wanted to just be a normal girl again. She wanted to be like a Muggle. Neville's eyes had grown soft and he'd kissed her forehead and brought her to bed. She'd forgotten all about it until he surprised her at her flat a month later.

"I have something to show you," he said as he held out his arm. "Take my hand."

He apparated them to a children's Muggle park. It was closed for the winter, but Neville had magic and he knew how to use it. He started the carousel up, and as the music started and the machine spun around and around, Parvati couldn't help but gape at the beauty before her. "Wow," she said as the lights flashed. The horses seemed alive, as though they danced back and forth between the this world and the next - between the carousel and herself. "Wow."

"Would you like a go? On the merry-go-round?"

She hadn't expected that. "Could I?"

Neville smiled and reached for her arm. "That's why we're here, isn't it."

She bit her lip. "But what would I-"

"Don't worry," Neville interrupted. His lips curved up into a serene smile, and Parvati knew in that instance that he was in love with her and would do anything for her. "I'll be there the entire time."

True to his word, he held her hand as they climbed into a red painted carriage pulled by a beautiful black stallion. Parvati could just barely see the chair of yellow daisies painted into the horse's mane from her seat in the carriage, and then the music began and around they went.

At first, Parvati felt as though she were in shock. She gripped both Neville's hand and the side of the carriage as tightly as she could, holding on for dear life. But as the carousel sped up and Neville squeezed her hand, Parvati felt herself relaxing to the point where she could smile. Then laugh. Then squeal with joy.

For the first time since the war had ended, Parvati felt care-free and happy. Neville laughed with her, and she leaned over to kiss him on the check, then the lips, then his other cheek. He looked surprised by her actions, but she didn't notice. Her eyes were locked on the black stallion pulling them along, around and around as many times as she desired.


End file.
